9 held after marijuana boat lands on San Mateo coast

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Nine men are facing drug charges after San Mateo County authorities intercepted two large vans carrying bales of marijuana worth $23 million that had just been offloaded from a boat that had sailed from Mexico, investigators said Tuesday.

The investigation began Friday when U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials notified the San Mateo County narcotics task force that marijuana boats might be landing off the coast, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

At 10:15 p.m. that night, two large vans entered Año Nuevo State Park in Pescadero and met a “panga” fishing boat that landed at the beach, Wagstaffe said.

A group of men moved 180 bales of marijuana — weighing 5,148 pounds — from the boat and into the vans, authorities said. Task force agents stopped the vans as they drove onto Highway 1.

Investigators determined that the boat had come from Mexico. Agents found an inflatable raft, rain gear and cell phones on the beach. The panga boat was recovered by the U.S. Coast Guard after a fisherman saw it drifting in the water.

With the exception of Mario Gonzalez, all of the defendants pleaded not guilty Monday in Superior Court to charges of marijuana possession for sale and importing marijuana into the state. They are being held at County Jail in lieu of $1 million each.

The case evokes similarities to an incident May 12, when marijuana smugglers abandoned a panga boat, an SUV and 42 bales of marijuana at Pescadero State Beach, 12 miles north of Año Nuevo, after the vehicle got stuck in the sand.